Cardinals

Tony LaRussa Ready For Hall Induction

Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland (L) and former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa leave the sixth hole tee box while playing golf at the Leatherstocking Golf Course in Cooperstown, New York on July 26, 2014. Inductees, Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavin along with White Sox’s Frank Thomas will be inducted with managers Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27, 2014. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Related Tags:

COOPERSTOWN, New York (KMOX)- Former Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa hit the golf course, signed a few autographs, and met with media, Saturday, in Cooperstown on the eve of his induction into baseball’s hall of fame.

KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman caught up with LaRussa and asked him for his thoughts.

“Once you see what’s going on, it kind of overwhelms you. You try not to be overwhelmed, but, I think it’s okay to be overwhelmed. It’s really a big deal,” LaRussa said.

The former Cards, A’s and White Sox field boss made sure he had one of his best buddies in the game of baseball beside him this weekend as he gets inducted into the Hall, former big league manager Jim Leyland. He said Leyland’s input over the years was cherished, “It’s important to have somebody you can talk to about a tough decision that didn’t work. This is my decision, this is what happened, what do you think? For thirty years, Jim and I, we talked three or four times a week.”

LaRussa spent a bit of his Saturday trying to fine-tune the speech he’ll give Sunday, saying it’s a challenge because he has a lot to be thankful for, “It’s difficult to give credit without personalizing it. If you go that route, three clubs over thirty years, there’s a lot of persons.”

Another former Cards manager, Joe Torre, will be inducted Sunday, along with former Braves skipper Bobby Cox.

Torre told KMOX he may be going into the Hall as a New York Yankee, but he hasn’t forgotten the time spent in St. Louis or the influence Cardinal manager Red Schoendienst had on his career as a player and manager, “He treated you with respect. He gave you responsibility and accountability. Then, he let you go play. That’s really when I went forward thinking that’s what I was going to do.”